Month: September 2025

• ^[1] But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. ^[2] And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. (2 Peter 2:1-2)

               Several times in the past six weeks I wanted to draft an article about the death of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Argentine who was the pope of the Roman Catholic Church. I withheld my comments expecting it would be a while before the college of cardinals named a successor. This happened far sooner than most thought and now the world wonders whether Bob will chart a new awkward course or walk the same crooked path as Jorge. It matters little to me whether they agree with each other, but rather will Bob agree with Jesus? After all, he claims the title of the vicar of Christ, meaning the representative of Christ who leads the world’s 1.4 billion Roman Catholics. You would expect the vicar of Christ to be close enough to the teachings of Christ that there would hardly be a noticeable difference between pontiffs. How wrong we would be on the accounts of Bob, Jorge, Joseph, Karol, Albino, Giovanni, Angelo, and all the others before who changed their names. The deceptive mask did little good for God still knows who usurps His authority.

               How illogical does it seem that two vicars of Christ would be different at all? If any of these folks thought to read the Bible and use it as their course (sola Scriptura), perhaps they would come across a pertinent question the apostle Paul asked. When the Corinthian church divided over leaders, some wanted to follow Apollos, some Peter, and some Paul. Paul asked, “Is Christ divided?” When the Roman pope (or more precisely American and before Argentinian, and before German, and before Polish, etc.) speaks infallibly ex cathedra, how does any of them model Christ while holding differences of opinion and leading their followers in different directions?

               On May 5, I read the Challies newsletter which pointed out some key facts about Jorge Mario Bergoglio. By default, some and maybe all will be true of Bob. While there are many false prophets in the world (1 John 4:1), none has the ability of worldwide deception or garners the attention and respect of Jorge and his rascals. Never once did Jorge preach the gospel of Christ that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone (sola gratia, sola fide, solus Christus). He upheld the errors of the Catholic Catechism among which human works must join with divine grace, the demonic error of the veneration of Mary the Mediatrix, and the payment of indulgences for believers to escape punishment in an underworld called purgatory. I gave you five errors in two sentences while the catechism brims with them.

               Another interesting fact about Jorge who has now left to the place prepared for the devil and his angels was his membership in the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). If you like gruesome history, these would be the same ones as those who by every torturous, murderous scheme imaginable tried to eradicate Baptists and Protestants from the face of the earth. While I preach salvation through faith alone in Jesus Christ, (soli Deo Gloria) Jorge never embraced it—ultimately concluding that belief in Christ is unnecessary. Yes, I wonder too if Bob will go there.

               Jorge had 12 years as the world’s most influential deceiver. Bob is a little younger and may beat Jorge’s stint to claim a furnace heated seven times hotter. I would say their parades and charades and costumes are cute but as the prophets cried to Elisha, “There is death in the pot!”

Pastor V. Mark Smith

• (This article was originally published for Memorial Day 2025)

               Time constraints, meeting deadlines for printing, and the hope my brain is functioning correctly when needed, all make it necessary for me to write bulletin articles weeks in advance. Tomorrow is Memorial Day which helped me choose my topic, and by coincidence or better by divine providence, I received my inspiration for this article on May 6. I was thinking about a military topic when a news article arrived in my inbox about the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold President Trump’s executive order banning transgender persons from the military. As you can imagine, there was quite a bit of disturbance from the liberal New York Times that posted the article with their usual biases.

               I am one who chooses to read what the opposition says just to keep up with the bleeding hearts. Unfortunately, I am sorry I cannot read the news from either side and halfway believe that anyone in journalism tells the truth. Because of this, I am interested in the comments below the articles to see what people really think. I know this is an unscientific measurement of consensus across our country, not nearly as exact as the polling data we receive from, again, biased news agencies. In my unqualified assessment, most readers of the New York Times agree with their opinions. Thus, it was surprising to see nearly all the comments supporting the Supreme Court’s decision with the most common argument that mentally unstable people are neither dependable nor combat ready.

               In 2014, I had the opportunity to sail on a United States Navy destroyer from Hawaii to San Diego. The trip was thrilling, the pride in our military exhilarating, and the confidence in national protection assured. However, there were some disturbing elements. I do not know how to describe it better than saying there was far too much lack of discipline which seemed to me to be the result of too many snowflake sailors. My suspicion is officers are too concerned with disciplinary action against them if they hurt feelings which shatters much of the confidence that soldiers will perform properly by order rather than begging. I remember my son-in-law who retired as a Navy chief cited proper discipline as the biggest change over his more than twenty-year career. Much of this relates to the presence of homosexual troops. The unnatural will never bode well for our confidence.

               None of what I say here diminishes my respect for upright, upstanding, courageous members of our military. In fact, many serve and risk themselves despite onerous personnel decisions. Our country needs defense, and their sacrifice deserves our grateful applause. They serve in the spirit of the thousands who gave their lives, and our country honors them each Memorial Day. I suspect many of them smile at the Supreme Court decision. This is one step back into sanity that also needs attention in removal from our school system that grooms our youngest most helpless and vulnerable. Stop it there and our armed forces will not need to deal with it later.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

               When I was 18 years old, our church in Kentucky called on me to teach the youth department. The teaching ministry has not found a truer neophyte and neither given a tougher assignment to the newly initiated. Most would think it radical to have the youth director dating and planning to marry a student in the youth department. It sounds creepy and right so had it not been we were the same age and already engaged. Some of you at first think of the overused cliché of inbred southerners as if this had anything to do with it. I must accept these thoughts for opening this can of worms. My point is not to reveal my dark past but to show there is a logical reason for the choice. Rarely would a young and inexperienced person receive such a call without justifying mitigating factors. These same factors resulted in the church choosing me to become a deacon at only 25 years old. What were these factors?

               The first I did not own except for the marvelous grace of God. I had no control that God would choose my life to begin in the home of a pastor who would never allow me from the day I was born to be anywhere but in church on the Lord’s Day or on any day there was a church meeting or activity. The purpose for the restriction was the need to be close to God’s word to receive instruction not found in any other place I could be. If I was to receive salvation, I must hear the word of God and the more I heard the more opportunities for the Holy Spirit to open my heart to the gospel. This constant exposure to scripture had more benefits. When I trusted Christ at only 7 years old, I had an extensive background in scripture that most Christians far older than me had.

               The next benefit was the development of love for God’s word. I wanted my dad to take me with him when he went to conferences, and I had no trouble at that age sitting for hours listening to sermons and taking notes to help preserve the knowledge. Coupling this with my father’s teaching, a man grounded in the depths of the word, there was a foundation painstakingly laid on the solid rock of Jesus Christ. From 7 years old to 18 years is more than a decade in which I invested private time to learn the doctrines of the church. At 18, I was ready for the assignment. I admit those I taught were not nearly as anxious as I was to learn. Many hours of study went unnoticed, and the learning often sailed over the heads of my contemporaries. The most cherished reward I have from those days is to see one of those friends again and have them remind me of the experience with a word of appreciation.

               I graduated from youth to teach adults and preach the word. These are outlets to share more knowledge gained and to hopefully help others in better understanding the cherished word that will draw them closer to Christ. These days I have a little more time to think about where I have been and how I got here. It is also time to remember faithful parents who were steadfast in their duties to ensure my understanding of the glory of God. I also thank the young girl in the youth department I married who never begrudged the hours taken away from her to pursue a more perfect knowledge of Christ. I sit here at my desk continuing the daily work of study because she also trained me in faithfulness. Thus, I daily repeat, “Soli Deo Gloria.”

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Every day I sit in a quiet house mostly alone with my thoughts not concerned too much about disturbances. I regret that health problems keep me from being more active, but this lifestyle is a boon to the ability to study and think things through and make better decisions. You may not see the results of this but at least I am increasingly more content. I never had to worry too much about wasting time because I did not have any. Now, I can be more selective about where to devote my time. Regardless of your time constraints, every Christian should be careful to use the time God gives wisely.

               During my wife’s long illness, it was necessary to ration my time judiciously since I had to care for the needs of two people. Of course, many of those needs overlapped such as cooking, cleaning, hunting and gathering…Others, were very much peculiar to her which were constant attendance at the behest of Kaiser’s many invitations. Those have gone away, leaving longer days without interruptions. As you can well imagine, thoughts of Pam are daily excursions especially times such as today as I write this article. I wrote this only a few days from our 51^st anniversary. I limit the timeframes of these thoughts because they quickly lead to sadness and despair that are not profitable. I am so used to praying for her that I catch myself unconsciously starting to include her. Who can imagine what I would say would be helpful? Still, there must be time left to contemplate the past because there is a measure of happiness in it too. The relics of a long happy marriage still fill my home. I am certain I cannot dispose of them without deep regret and cannot replace them when I feel it.

               I come to these thoughts today while preparing the sermon you heard early in April. If you remember, it was Peter’s question to our Lord when inquiring about the rewards of leaving everything to follow Jesus. “What will we get?” he asked. I went on to explain Jesus’ answer and it led me to think what Pam enjoys at this very moment. Many times, through this process I have thought how I would willingly go back to the long days and nights of taking care of her just to feel her presence with me again. Although as a means of comfort, I have said, and others have said to me how much better off she is where she is now. Indeed, the sermon verses I used in Revelation 20 confirm this, but they did not stop my desires of wanting her back. Preaching this sermon started to turn the tide of my thinking. My desire for her is more about me than her. My desire is common to humans. It is a selfish desire when the best we can hope for in our human existence is what God designed us for. He made us for intimate fellowship with Him, to enjoy and worship Him forever. Due to the fall of man, the journey to reach this is circuitous at best, and yet by following God’s plan for us there will be ultimate success. Pam enjoys the fruits of her labor. “Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” (Galatians 6:9).

               Am I approaching this wrongly to limit my thoughts of her so as not to inadvertently wish for what is not best for her? How I feel about it has no bearing on what God does, but it most certainly bears on my contentment if I do not think as God thinks. It is difficult at times to understand how we should think so that we might be most pleasing to God. In these situations, I am thankful for His longsuffering and that He promised He knows the feelings of our infirmities. Believers always have the Holy Spirit to interpret the thoughts and intents of the heart. The blessed Almighty God layers our divine communication connections with processes we are incapable of understanding. I can sit here with all my newfound time to study and know that Pam is far ahead of me.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

               For the past few weeks, we have announced today’s service will conclude with the members of Berean Baptist Church taking part in the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper. While I was away in Kentucky for several weeks, our regular time of this observance came and went without the church taking part. It is our custom, as it is in most Baptist churches, for the pastor to officiate at the Lord’s Table although in past years many churches have become more informal. I have always felt that one of the dangers of frequent observance and of casual observance is the diminishing of the Supper’s symbolism. I think of the words of Christ who said, “Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you,” and “This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.” The solemnity of the occasion and the importance of it is rightly difficult to overestimate.

               We postponed our observance due to my absence because breaking tradition causes distraction which in turn causes us to lose focus. I wonder how many churches care about this since I have watched others allow children to distribute the elements and pastors who barely comment on the purpose other than to recognize there is a break in the service. I hope by our formality that we adequately emphasize there is something important happening when we place the bread and cups on the table. We recognize a most worthy memorial according to Christ’s command, “Do this is in remembrance of me,” and Paul’s explanation, “You show the Lord’s death until He comes.” In my absence, our members asked when we would have our next observance because they missed its effect on their devotion and spirituality.

               Our observance is also somewhat peculiar for today’s churches, perhaps not so much in form and function, but rather our insistence that Christ intended it for the close fellowship of local churches whose members have committed to each other for accountability and discipline. We can hardly obey this principle when we have no authority over the lives of other Christians who have not formally joined the membership which includes voluntary submission to the pastor and leadership of the church. It is clear in 1 Corinthians that Paul used the Supper as a call for stellar behavior and a means of separating those who were either unknown in discipline or without proper submission.

               We have also made it clear that for our visitors we make neither judgment, claims nor disciplinary attempts on their lives. It is not our right to assume authority other than authority of intimate fellowship within the lives of those committed to accept it. However, we welcome our visitors to watch and see what this ordinance means to us. Every Christian should have a church commitment where they surrender accountability for how they live for Christ. The Supper is theirs to enjoy in that location under that authority. Meanwhile, we rejoice for Christ to be present and seen in every work of our church.

Pastor V. Mark Smith